Hill Climbing Technique Tips

Recently, I posted my favorite training tip from Josh Horowitz for working towards better hill climbing. In the same article, 7 Tips for Climbing to the Top, he also gives this excellent tip:
Positioning - Start the climb near the front. If you start near the back, not only will you have to keep the pace of the lead riders, you will have to make the additional effort of accelerating around dropped riders. A strong climber might be able to bridge one or two gaps, but if it is a long climb and a big pack, eventually they will burn their last match and go off the back, even if their power-to-weight ratio is higher than that of the leaders.


I saw this during my recent 2 day event, The Ride to Conquer Cancer. While many cyclists there were much better riders than myself, they just don’t have the experience we take for granted when cycling along the PCH out of Malibu. There were minor hills early on where people were walking in herds. I simply do not have the cycling strength to over come that loss of momentum and had to walk as well until I caught on that this was going to keep happening unless I got ahead of the pack. So I peddaled up as best I could after the hill. Victory! I was back in the saddle for a much better event. We’ll see what happens next month with the Marin Century ride. I imagine that is going to be much more climb.

Day One Continues – On the Road with The Ride to Conquer Cancer

We took off and it was glorious. A force of yellow and wheels wielding its way through Toronto. I was all giggles and excitement. Not being from the area, I have no idea what to expect, when we would leave city streets, etc.

I had been nervous that there were no route slips printed out (a wonderful booklet did give us a map the night before) and no arrows painted on the street itself. There was no reason to worry. The event was wonderfully organized. Clearly marked signs along the way and volunteers at every intersection. If you think about the sheer distance of the ride and how many intersections that must be, it is boggling.

I had my first understanding of how much this meant to everyone as we rode. There were people all along the route cheering us on. I’ve seen crowds at the start and a few block up but never an entire event route. I think my favorite sign was “Go Brit! Ride your fanny for your granny!”

There were about 5 or six stops a day, about every 20 km (12.5 miles) this both slowed me down and kept me going. For many people this was their first event and a two day one at that, the rest and hydration they provided was excellent. Unfortunately I was in the early pack to get to the first stop. That meant everyone was surprised and just slammed to a stop at the driveway. No one called out, many of us could not clip out in time and down I went in the midst of a domino effect. It must have looked awful, for two days everyone around me was trying to send me off to the medic tent, but honestly, I went right away, they cleaned me up and I was fine. The hardest part was the band-aid pulling at my skin, so I took that off and continued on.

Once again I need to thank Coach Ramon and Team in Training. All the times he took me out on the PCH and made me tackle those hills in baby steps really paid off. My mentor, Jayne Ramos certainly did her share too. As we hit the hills, people were walking in herds. I lost momentum and I am not a strong enough rider to recover from that so there were times when I had to walk but would get back on the bike as soon as I could. We had one hard turn to a hill that stopped everyone. Coming around a blind curve like that and into a stopped pack is pretty unnerving, I can tell you. I saw one gentleman who made the curve, past the stopped pack but couldn’t recover – he toppled over and could not get out of his clips.

The screw in my handbars were stripped. Every time I hit a bump they would tip down and I would pull them back up. Surprisingly, this did not awake the tumor in my hand. For a change it was quiet and behaved nicely all weekend. Because of the handlebars I walked ALL of a really scary downhill. I still have trouble with my fear of down hill but thankfully not as much as before. This time it was more of a safety about being able to grab the brakes evenly with the bars moving as I rode.

We had been hearing about the BIG HILL since prior to the event. Everyone was pretty worked up about it. It really wasn’t bad, just long. I have to admit I did walk a small part of it. I got to the top and felt a bit dehydrated so I sat on a wall with a few other folk, drank up and had some beef jerky for the salt. I’m not sure, but I actually think I napped sitting up for a while.

After that, there was about 10 km if I recall, to the camp ground. Yay! The route that day was fairly easy compared to our terrain, there was no Encinal Cyn in sight and it certainly wasn’t Solvang. Of course 100+ km of anything isn’t that easy but it was the harder of the two days so I felt pretty secure.

Reason No. 8 to Ride

Reason No. 8 to ride is you amaze yourself.

I have a firm policy of there is no shame in walking, it beats giving up. Today, I took a route that I had not used in a year. I saw a hill up ahead that I have never completed, once I got almost to the top and still had to walk it. I amazed myself by not only taking that hill to the top but had to laugh when I saw that I was going 18 mph uphill!

Yahooza!

200 km or Donate – which do you choose?

I’ve made a personal commitment over the next five years to don my helmet and cycle to raise funds for cancer cures. To date, I’ve raised $3,478 and my family as a whole as raised $10, 478! We need to keep working together to conquer cancer for those struggling right now and for those yet to be diagnosed. To accomplish this I’ll be cycling The Ride to Conquer Cancer.

The Ride to Conquer Cancer benefiting Princess Margaret Hospital is a cycling journey from Toronto to Niagara Falls – a distance of over 200 km – that I’m embarking on to fight cancer. It will be a challenge in a number of ways, but with my bike, my helmet, and your generosity, a real impact will be made!

I’m asking my supporters to please make a donation of $218; one dollar for every kilometer I am committed to riding and eighteen for life! Of course any contribution is welcome as you support and generate the all-important funds for research, which will be allocated based on the highest cancer research priorities at The Princess Margaret and OCI. Click here to DONATE

I’m a firm believer that cancer does not stop at the U.S./Canada border. Because of that I’ve created Team US Cares to participate in The Ride to Conquer Cancer. The event is not just for athletes or cycling enthusiasts. It’s the ride for anyone who wants to challenge themselves for a great cause. All you need is motivation, a bike, and a helmet. The rest is history. To be a part of it and join Team US Cares, click here. (Team Password: kickbutt)

So, nu? How was the Solvang Prelude?

So, nu? How was the Solvang Prelude?
Rae and I decided we would take it easy after all. Being off the bike for so long didn’t seem like a snap any more and after all, our team was only doing a training ride of 20 miles, so we opted for the 50 miles route.

The ride out of the start was a nice easy flat warm up of about 5 miles or so, a little chilly in the early hours, with most of us piling on the layers. So we’re tooling along, thinking this is lovely, then the hills hit.